Do you miss the bright ‘n’ breezy power pop of the late 70s? Then you’ll love this week’s Monday exclusive…

This week’s Monday exclusive comes in video form, with the first airing of the video for Ricky by San Francisco four-piece Talkie. Ricky is taken from the band’s debut (double) album Hablas, which is available now.

Talkie consist of brothers Bradley and Matthew Hagman, plus Eric Martin (drums) and Christopher Isaacs (guitar). The band formed in 2014, its members having met while touring with other, previous bands. They describe their music as “a fresh brand of rock ‘n’ roll that’s as influenced by 60s Brit-invasion as it is 90s alternative”, though to our ears the most obvious reference point would be the kind of quirky power pop that was so popular during the new wave ere (think The Jags, The Korgis or even Devo). There’s even a little ska-tinged bit in the middle!

Of the Ricky film, they tell us: “There really isn’t a whole lot of meaning behind the video except that we thought it would be funny to brush our teeth while a leaf blower was blowing on our faces. It was pretty disgusting, but it was a bonding experience for all of us. Though the lyrical content is pretty dark in contrast, we really didn’t feel the world needed another abused puppy informational video.

“As far as the lyrics are concerned, in the US it’s incredibly difficult for immigrant students to receive a quality education. Ricky was inspired by a painful conversation Eric had with a timid young man who felt that running away was the solution to his problems. The music sounds relatively lighthearted and playful, but our conversation was actually quite distressing. His story is shared by many others, so we thought we could use what minuscule platform we have to shed some light on it.”